i’ve been eyeing this recipe for a while now. after seeing these delights on bread and honey , I knew I would break down eventually and make them. so on christmas eve when my mom decided that we hadn’t made enough cookies this christmas season, i took it as an official sign that chocolate crinkles were on their way into my kitchen stomach.* however, i also knew that i needed more peppermint in my life on christmas eve. peppermint hot chocolate? no. peppermint sticks? no. peppermint bark? no! no no no! nothing would solve my peppermint craving, unless. wait. peppermint chocolate crinkles? sigh. that would do the trick.

luckily for me, there just so happened to be a box of candy canes on the counter…after looking back and forth from the candy canes to the bowl of chocolate cookie dough and back to the candy canes to the cookies dough, etc. etc., I came up with the perfect solution…so here’s the final result. my advice: throw all self control and discipline out the window because you’re going to want more than one of these in your life.

3-4 crushed candy canes (my method: stick the candy canes in a couple doubled up ziplock bags and then pass the bag around and let people have at it until you’ve got a fine peppermint powder. some helpful verbs: stomp, throw, smash.)

a few handfuls of chocolate chips (completely optional, but if you’re going to eat chocolate cookies, i mean, eat CHOCOLATE cookies)

Directions:

In a medium bowl, mix together cocoa, white sugar, and vegetable oil. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the cocoa mixture. Fold in peppermint powder and chocolate chips. Cover dough, and chill for at least 4 hours. (if you don’t have 4 hours and you want to make these, go ahead. they’ll be fine. yours might look a little different in the end, but they will surely taste the same)

Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Let stand on the cookie sheet for a minute before transferring to wire racks to cool.

thank cassidy for the beautiful hand modeling and enjoy!

*i may be overdoing myself with the strike these days. sorry! i can't help myself!

**this recipe is adapted from bread and honey's recipe who adapted it from
allrecipes.com...so its pretty passed down, but refining is always good, right?
if you want plain chocolate crinkles, or you don't trust my recipe tweaking, ignore
the italicized parts.

My debit card. is missing. When was the last time I used it? I can’t remember. I got to panera to meet Lauren Stanfield this morning without it and I had to go to the bank to cash Grandma’s christmas check before getting my bagel and coffee. Lauren, on the other hand, got her breakfast for free. She has damaged corneas or something because of wearing her contacts for too long and it looked like she was crying underneath her really cute glasses. “This one’s on the house. Merry Christmas. .” One more reason why I need to work on getting poor vision. Free bagels.

So, on we go to Anthropologie to exchange mediocre christmas presents for awesome ones like dresses that look way to small on the hanger but then fit perfectly when you put them on! and are on sale. Anyone need a date to a semiformal event, because I have a dress to wear!

In other news, I cleaned my car. I’m fairly certain that being in it was on its way to being a health code violation.

Meagan: holly, there is a french fry with ketchup dried on it between this seat and the console.
Me: ew. I have got to clean out my car.

Three weeks later… done. I swear to not let it get so gross ever again.

Bethlehem has opened Eden: Come let us see!
We have found joy hidden!
Come, let us take possession of the paradise within the cave.
There the unwatered stem has appeared,
From which forgiveness blossoms forth!
There the undug well is found
Which David longed to drink of old!
There the Virgin has borne a child,
And at once the thirst of Adam and David is made to cease.
Therefore let us hasten to this place
Where for our sake the eternal God was born a little child!

last spring i went to a beautiful wedding. the stories behind and leading up to that day created a perfect picture of grace and gods ability to put broken pieces and stories back together. i was reading through some old journals today and was reminded of how much that weekend touched me. i was able to sit and talk to a woman who, after a broken marriage and painful divorce, was able to run an orphanage in the philippines. 15 years and hundreds of children later she was back in the states for her nephews wedding. by the end of the night i felt like she was a dear friend, even though we’d just met. one of the things she told me was that she knew she was doing exactly what god created her to do.

that phrase ran through my head for days…i know i’ve had moments when i’ve thought that, but i wish that i had more of them can’t wait to have more of them.

holly and i frequently have a conversation that goes something like this…holly: i wasn’t created to not have time to get 8 hours of sleep a night.meagan: i wasn’t created to not have time to take a shower once a day.both: we weren’t created to not have time to make apple butter for all our friends for the 1st day of fall

i would prefer it if that conversation happened less and the i was created for this conversation would happen more.

Also, Mary Poppins has way more political commentary than I remember. Michael just wants to feed the birds with his tuppence, which is honorable I think, but his Father and the bank owner suggest otherwise. When young impressionable Michael will not comply, they steal the money right out of his hand in order to invest it in the British bank where it will build railways across Africa. Right.Later, bank customers observe Michael becoming upset and see that the bank will not give him his tuppence back. They lose trust in the banking system and begin to withdraw funds, thus causing a depression.

This is funny because, until the recent events of our economy’s downward spiral, I honestly thought that recessions were caused only by everyone taking all of their money out of the bank at the same time, not leaving it enough to function, or something. Which, now that I think about it, really makes no since, I know. But listen, I went to public school and blindly accepted everything I was taught. Same goes for Walt Disney, I believed every word!! They even dolled up their lies with chimney soot and carpet bags and dancing penguins. Who ever said anything about the value of the dollar or under-consumption having to do with anything? It all seems so simple in Mary Poppins. I’m anticipating trust issues [meg, we can add those to our generous supply of counseling topics.]